Where is Nigeria?

I attended a course recently which touched briefly on a concept i found fascinating. It was called the four levels to excellence or something like that:

Stage 1: Unconscious Incompetence
Stage 2: Conscious Incompetence
Stage 3: Conscious Competence
Stage 4: Unconscious Competence

These stages are self explanatory but i thought this framework can apply not only to people but also countries as well. So that led me to think where is Nigeria on this grid? When i argue with people about Nigeria am always told that am unpatriotic but i believe unless you can remove patriotism and national pride from the equation, you can never really assess Nigeria issues. Identifying the issues is always a major part of solving it. There’s no need to pussyfoot about issues or engage in stroking our patriotic ego. In my opinion, Nigeria is in Stage 1. Most people will say that’s stupid. Of course we know Nigeria is incompetent. But my question is do they know why? Every Nigerian has anecdotes to tell about why Nigeria is so bad and we see evidence of this incompetence everywhere everyday. But are we prepared as a nation to ask ourselves, not the government, not our leaders but ourselves why? The only way to move from stage 1 to stage 2 is figuring out the root problem and starting to work on it. And the questions are as follows. What is behind the “Nigerian Factor”? Why does there seem to be a lack of character in this nation not only in its leaders but in its people? Why do our values seem so screwed up? What aspects of our culture are holding us back as a nation? What are we all as Nigerians (including myself) doing that continues to add to this country’s problems? Why have other countries left us behind? Are poverty and bad leadership really the source of Nigeria’s problems? Does Nigeria have a monopoly on poverty and bad leadership? Maybe the problem is deeper than that. Maybe the problem with Nigeria is that it is full of Nigerians?. For very bad leader out there, there are a tonne of equally horrible replacements barking at the gates.

This is bound to offend a lot of people. But I couldn’t care less. Unless we are ready to challenge our assumptions on this country’s problems, we aint going to move anywhere. As human beings through out life we are always eager to blame people and circumstances for our problems. But until we do some serious soul searching do we figure out what the problem is. Can this also apply to our nation. Great people detest mediocrity and overcome challenges in their path to success. Great nations are founded on excellence.

An aside. Too much emphasis is placed on voting. While it is important, there is no such thing as a quick fix. Its part of the solution but a tiny part. If the truth be told we don’t know who we are voting for. Until we are prepared as individuals to look hard at ourselves and make efforts in our own individual lives not to repeat the mistakes of those before us then we r just kidding ourselves. This can be in our places of work, homes and personal lives.

So the question is not “IF” but “Why”? Do I have all the answers to Nigeria’s problems of course not. But I have a sneaking suspicion some soul searching individually wont hurt. Just a hunch. Easy